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Vandread: The Unknown Soldier

Chapter Nine: Wolf in the Fold, Part Two

Location: Corridor outside Conference Room

Immediately after Aidan drew his gun and bolted out the door, Meia had done the same. Then the power on the ship went out, leaving the corridors backlit in red. She did not know why she had followed him out until the power went off. Then she figured out that a virus caused this, and Reika was responsible. What was Reika after? Then she stopped, as Aidan was standing over a couple of bodies. When she got closer, she identified them as the two security personnel sent to escort Reika. She leaned down over them. It looked like the brown-haired one was shot in the throat. The other was slumped over, blood still pouring out of the wounds in her chest. She felt like throwing up from the strong, coppery scent of the blood around them. She looked up at Aidan, but he showed no sign of emotion at the dead crewmembers. Cold fear began to creep into her. Is that nightmare really going to become a reality?

“They’re dead,” she said as she stood up. “What is she trying to accomplish?” she asked Aidan.

“She is an assassin, which means she’s after Maria Shakov,” he replied, as he thumbed off the safety of his gun. “We don’t have much time,” he said as he advanced down the corridor.

I’ll make that bitch pay for what she did, he silently promised himself.

Where is she? Reika thought as she moved down the darkened corridor, warily scanning for her target as well as any potential threat. Two security guards came running down the corridor with odd-looking laser rifles held at the ready. She quickly gunned them down with lethal sprays from her needler. One of them still tried to put up a feeble resistance, she silenced the foolish woman with a shot to the head.

“These woman from Mejale from are too soft,” she muttered to herself.

A sudden crack split the air and she let out a gasp of pain as a bullet struck her in the side. She spun to the left as she regained her balance and moved for cover. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a green-haired woman aiming a pistol in her direction. She quickly inspected her wound. It appeared the bullet only grazed her, but she still was bleeding. She snapped off a couple of shots, and then dove for cover down a narrow corridor. She didn’t see if her shots connected or not, nor did she care. She had to find her target and eliminate her.

Who is that bitch anyway? Barnette thought as she held onto her injured arm. That weapon she fired was nothing like she had seen before. Several needle-like projectiles struck her in the left arm. One thing was for sure, that was a nasty weapon she was using, and a direct hit probably would’ve been fatal. But she wondered where the weapon came from. She winced as another wave of pain went through her arm. She wearily leaned against the wall as blood ran down her arm and dripped onto the floor. She propped herself up against the wall’s cool metal surface. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Meia and Aidan approaching her.

“Barnette! Are you alright?” a concerned Meia said.

“Ill be fine… it’s just a… scratch,” she managed to say, her voice unable to conceal the fact that she was in pain.

“Where did she go?” Aidan asked, obviously irritated.

“She… went down that way…” Barnette said, using her uninjured arm to point in the direction the assassin went.

“Good,” he replied, and started to head off in that direction.

“Who is that person?” Barnette asked.

Aidan stopped for a second. “She’s an assassin.”

“An assassin? Who’s she after?”

This time it was Meia who answered. “She’s after Maria Shakov.”

Maria sat at one of the tables in the cafeteria, her face buried in her hands, and she was shaking. This wasn’t happening, she thought to herself, yet it was. A lone assassin was on her way to kill her, and lots of people were dying. She’d found out a few minutes when a couple of the security team came in and informed her. Now they were to defend her if the assassin got near her. Even though they were hear, she didn’t feel all that safe. Dita was hear as well, trying to comfort her.

“It’s alright, everything is okay,” Dita said in a comforting tone.

“No it isn’t,” she shot back. “She’ll kill me, and she’ll probably kill you while she’s at it.”

“Don’t say things like that,” Dita replied.

“Why not, it’s the truth,” Maria said choking back sobs.

As Dita was about to say something, one of the guards suddenly pitched over in a spray of blood. The other guard tackled them both to the ground to avoid the shot that hit the table, shattering the edge into pieces. A young woman walked in, holding a flechette pistol in her right hand. It appeared that the security person was hit, as she was holding her shoulder.

“So this must be the famous Maria,” the woman said in a mocking tone

“Yeah, so who are you and what do you want?” Maria replied from the other side of the table.

“Oh, my name isn‘t important, I’m just here to kill you,” she said as was about to pull the trigger.

“NO!” Dita yelled as she stood in front of Maria, effectively blocking the assassin’s sight of Maria.

“Move, little girl, or I’ll kill you too,” she warned.

“I won’t let kill my friend,” Dita replied.

“Suit yourself,” the assassin said as her finger started to tighten on the trigger.

As he advanced towards the cafeteria, the memory of Sakura’s death flashed into his mind. After walking past a supposed technician, and then noticing Sakura heading towards him. Then there was a sudden flash, and an incredible force knocked him back several meters. When he got to his feet, he noticed Sakura lying on the ground. She died not to long after. He would always remember the life fading from her green eyes.

He snapped out of it when he got several meters away from the cafeteria. He saw a dark, female form go in there. He instinctively snapped off a couple of shots, more to get her attention than to actually hit her. Her response was by diving further into the cafeteria, and out of his line of sight. He headed to the doors, but stopped and put his back the wall. Meia did the same on the other side of the door. At the same time the charged through the door, and the assassin was behind cover.

He fired again, but this time the shots hammered into the table the assassin was using as cover. The assassin fired a couple of shots in his direction. He glanced over at Dita and Maria, who were still in the room.

“What are you two doing? Get out of here now!” he commanded them.

“But…” Maria stammered.

“I said NOW!” He yelled as he continued to fire from cover, providing them with cover fire as they both ran out of the room. Meia was doing the same with her ring laser. Now that they were out of danger, he could finally avenge the death of Sakura.

“Do you have a plan?” Meia asked as he ejected the empty clip and loaded a new one.

“Hurry up,” Barnette said as Duero bandaged up her arm.

“You don’t rush something like this,” he replied, his tone stern.

“I have to help them,” she said.

“You’re not going to help anyone, I have to take you to the infirmary,” Duero said sternly as he finished bandaging her wounds.

She picked up her gun and got up. She felt Duero try to hold her back and she shrugged him off. “I’m going to help them whether you like it or not.”

As soon as she dove she snapped off the two shots from her needler, Aidan fired some more shots, hoping to pin her down. He felt a sharp pain as some of the needle-like flechettes grazed his right cheek, creating a few gashes. As soon as she got up, he hesitated. She was holding the remaining security guard hostage, with a knife at her throat.

“Both of you, drop your weapons, or I’ll open this girl’s throat,” she threatened.

“Alright,” Meia replied as she took her ring off and dropped it onto the floor.

“Now, you,” she said. “Drop it.”

Aidan tossed it out and away from him.

“Thanks,” the assassin replied as drew the knife across the guard’s neck, sending a spray of blood from the now dying woman’s throat. In one quick motion the assassin threw the same knife at Meia. Meia moved just in time to avoid the knife aimed at her chest. It instead hit her in the shoulder. She threw another knife at Aidan, but he was already on the move, his combat knife drawn, and ducking out of the way of the throw.

“I’ll show you a thing or two about using a knife,” Aidan said as the assassin drew a dagger from the small of her back.

Meia grunted in pain as she removed the knife from her shoulder and dropped the blood-soaked knife to the floor. She grabbed her shoulder and applied pressure in an attempt to stop the bleeding. She watched as Aidan and the assassin were in the middle of a knife fight, with neither one having the advantage. Glancing down, she noticed the gun on the floor. She reached over and picked it up. She levered it up and took aim at the assassin. She pulled the trigger and felt the pistol kick in her hand. Whether by excellent aim or dumb luck, the shot hit the assassin’s hand and blew the dagger right out of her hand. Aidan attempted to take advantage of it, and struck with his razor-sharp knife. The assassin managed to kick the knife out of Aidan’s hand and knock him to the floor.

“This is where it ends,” the assassin said, drawing another throwing knife. She shifted her aim and fired. The ten millimeter slug shattered the assassin’s left knee, causing it to buckle. The assassin started to go down as her leg collapsed on her. A few seconds later, another crack split the air as the assassin took another bullet in the back. Meia looked over to see Barnette standing in the doorway.

This can’t be happening! the assassin thought as her leg collapsed under her weight. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It was all planned out. She would have activated the virus to immobilize the ship, find and eliminate her target, and escape in one of the Dreads to arrive at the rendezvous point where she would have been picked up by a friendly vessel. Then the other bullet slammed into her back, knocking her to the floor. She couldn’t feel her legs, and her consciousness was fading rapidly.

It wasn’t happening!

Sorry, for the long wait, I had to get some other things done first. Let me know what you think.